Mental Health First Aid Awareness

Earlier this month, I got the opportunity through Workhuman and VHI to attend a Mental Health First Aid Awareness Course run by MHFA Ireland.

I had a lot of key takeaways from this session, so much that I did not think I could summarise it into a few bullet points for a LinkedIn post and decided to write an article highlighting my learning, what I will do for my own mental health going forward and what I will do for others.

The first takeaway that hit home for me was that you cannot hide a physical illness, if you broke your leg, everyone can see that, help you out by holding doors or carrying things for you but if you had a mental illness, you can hide this to an extent, people will not rush to help you as easy as they may not see the signs or they may say the wrong thing. There is a stigma around mental health as well which acts as a barrier.

During covid, anxiety and depression increased and is now at 25%, that is 1 million people in Ireland a year dealing with a mental illness. Majority of people have the outlook of saying "I should be able to cope", well if you had a broken leg and needed to run for a bus, would you say I should be able to cope? No, you would ask for help but asking for help regarding your mental health is not easy and that is one of the reasons why I signed up for this course so I could offer help to those who do not know how to ask.

The common feeling people who notice someone is struggling with their mental health is wanting to grab that person and shake them out their “mood”, “funk” or “phase” but the best thing you can do is offer them a listening ear and be patient with them as they may not be ready to talk, may not know how to express what they are feeling, or they could feel embarrassed discussing it.

What you can do is ask them open ended questions about how they are feeling, listen to their tone of voice as it may sound deflated, and have empathy not sympathy! You can also address any concerns you have to them by telling them the facts, “I have noticed you have been less motivated and productive, and I am concerned about you", or "I have noticed your not yourself lately, is everything ok?".

Look for the signs such as change in mood or appearance or lack of motivation or change in weight or personality but also, more importantly look for the trend. Someone may be having a bad day or week but if you notice a trend with these behaviours then this is a good time to check in with them.

Mental health can affect your life in many areas including work. You may be less motivated, not being able to concentrate, maybe your remote working and you’re struggling to connect with your team or structure your day.

Things you and I can do to help our mental health while either working in the office or remotely.

-???????Set yourself up by having a good structure, create boundaries between work and home and have regular start and finish times.

-???????Make sure you give yourself time throughout the day for exercise. I go for walks on my lunch with my dogs and I avail of the gym when I am in the office. As long as you are getting a break from the screen, stretching your legs and trying to get some fresh air, then it should help.

-???????If you can, have your at home office set up in a different room preferably one that you can shut the door and finish for the day but if you can’t, for example I lived in apartment last year and did not have the extra bedroom, I worked in my kitchen. Just try not to work in your bedroom as this is the place for you to relax and unwind and sleep without thinking about work.

-???????Stay connected with your co-workers by having regular meetings, maybe have a fitness challenge, I am signed up to March miles with Workhuman with a team of 3 people, or a book club, as some members of my team are currently setting up and are about to read "atomic habits" together.

-???????Have a digital detox in the evenings and try not scroll through your phone first thing in the morning, I am guilty of this but will make a conscious effort going forward.

What I love about Workhuman is that they care about their employees and want us to be advocates for mental health. They offered this course that I attended this month, but also a 2-day course which I will definitely be attending and looking forward to diving in deeper on this topic.

They also offer an EAP, mental health first aiders and wellbeing initiatives.